It has been said that the deepest pleasure comes from the simplest of joys. The kind of things that require little money, or planning, or equipment. The kind of things we usually just take for granted. Go without a hot shower for a few weeks and when you finally get to take another one, it's a moment to be remembered. Or be without access to clean water for a few days - and the next glass you drink will be one of the best moments of your life.

Walking is like that. Next to breathing it's about as basic as human activity gets. And yet we usually do it without giving it much thought. Often we dread it. Forget something at the store - and the walk back is not an enjoyable experience. Yet if our ability to walk were lost - and then magically restored, not even a stroll to the mailbox would ever be the same again.

The Utility of Movement
It surprises many people when they first hear that of all the most beneficial of exercises, walking is high on the list. It just doesn't register that this most fundamental method of human transportation is anything other that an expedient necessity.  But the reality is that walking is restorative - both physically and mentally.

To walk in silence, not speaking or listening to another human being, is to treat both body and soul to something like what a warm bath is for sore muscles. It soothes. It calms. As the first five minutes passes, a certain clarity of thought begins to emerge as if from a shadow. And since you are alone, this clarity becomes your walking companion - and a different type of conversation begins; one between the you you always see, and the you in the shadow.

You begin to follow two paths; the one you're physically on, and that of the conversation with your new friend from the shadows. Both lead nowhere in particular - yet you can never arrive anywhere without beginning both journeys. 

Thoreau believed that one should begin all walks as though you would never return; as though maybe you would just keep walking - arriving at a new home each evening. And in a very subtle yet profound way - he's right. For the path we take internally, when we really take the time and energy to focus on it, leaves us in an entirely different place each time. And we can never, no matter how hard we try, return to where we started that internal stroll. 

Hand in hand
Walking and thinking were made for each other. Even the act of 'not thinking' while walking, is itself a form of thought. In-fact, that may be the purest form of thought there is. As though by not actively listening, we can finally hear.

So I often seek out places to walk - alone. I seek out the company of trees, streams, and dirt beneath my feet. I bathe in the solitude that is filled to capacity with every sound nature can muster. I listen to nothing; yet hear so much.

Each journey leaves me curious about where I will arrive; always joyful to be there when I do. And always certain that the only home I will ever know - is the destination I arrive at at the end of each stroll.

A delightful trend is emerging in the San Francisco restaurant world; vegetarian and vegan are going mainstream. That might come as a surprise to many who thought this trend started many years ago. 

But even though California is synonymous with health and veggie eating to many, the reality is that vegetarian restaurants have been few and far between in the City until quite recently.

Little by little vegetarian selections started to gain menu space in many San Francisco eateries - but these were usually token dishes to placate the the odd non-meat eater in large groups, and was generally confined to a tasteless dish of pasta and overcooked vegetables. The City just didn't take meat-free cuisine seriously. 

Those days are now - thankfully - behind us. It is now becoming quite commonplace to see a wide variety of vegetarian eating establishments not only in the City - but around the Bay Area.

Been there, Done that 
But even as this exciting new direction begins to take on steam, the gold-standard in fine vegetarian cuisine remains the venerable trail-blazer of San Francisco meat-free dining - Greens Restaurant. Greens is - simply put - the best vegetarian restaurant in the nation; both in terms of food and location.

Situated in an old warehouse in a semi-deserted, one time army base on the very edge of the bay, it just doesn't seem like the kind of place you'd fine anything to eat - let alone the flagship of modern organic dining.

Started in 1979, Greens is the creation of the San Francisco Zen center. They took over a rather dilapidated warehouse space and turned it into a large, airy, high ceilinged space with roof to floor windows facing the bay and filled with imaginative furniture displaying the wide-variety of wood available in northern California. A craftsperson would enjoy their visit without ever lifting a fork.

Bon Appétit
But the main achievement of Greens was to raise the world of vegetarian cuisine from the image of carrot sticks and sprouts and take it into the realm of sophisticated haut cuisine. 

Mesquite grilled brochettes of mushrooms, yellow finn potatoes, marinated tofu, white corn and summer squash. Gratin provençal with slow-roasted eggplant served alongside grilled Ridgecut Gristmills polenta, or Hamada Farm fruit-almond couscous. Are you catching the drift?

The selection of creative and beautifully presented dishes is simply remarkable. And nearly everything is supplied by small, local organic farms and brought daily to the restaurant. The freshness and full-flavored taste of the vegetables comes as an epiphany to many. Who knew this stuff could be so - well - sumptuously delicious?

This blog will feature several other establishments from the Bay Area's nascent vegetarian restaurant scene in the coming months - but let it be said at the outset that the original is still top of the heap. And be you a vegetarian or not - rest assured that a visit to this San Francisco legend will long be remembered for both its spectacular visual display and the savoriness of your meat-free fare. It's a dining must when visiting the City. 
Buen provecho!

http://www.greensrestaurant.com/

A Night to Remember
Forty years have passed since that night in 1971. But for anyone who was around then - sports fan or not - the Ali versus Frazier fight is still clearly remembered. This was more than a boxing match. This was the culture war brought to life. No one was neutral on that night. Everyone not only backed one man or the other - but fervently so.

And how fitting that what turned-out to be the greatest boxing match in history took place in New York's Madison Square Garden. No other venue than the very epicenter of world sports could possibly have done justice to what was known before - and after - as the fight of the century. Few events so eagerly anticipated ever live-up to the hype. This one exceeded it.

I can still vividly remember my own sense of desolation after that fight. I had been for the "People's Champion". Muhammed Ali was returning to the ring after having been stripped of his title and barred from boxing because of his refusal to be drafted into the US Army during the Viet Nam War.  And not only that - but he was a Muslim. And not just any kind of Muslim - but a Black Muslim. Oh believe me, Muhammad Ali was just way too left - and way, way too Black for America's comfort zone. 

The anti-war movement was in full force. The counter-culture had emerged. The Black Liberation movement (as we then called it) was going full throttle. Nearly every issue of the most radical of all publications at the time - The Black Panther - featured a photo of the exiled Ali with the caption "The People's Champ". Nothing else needed to be said. We all got it. He was us. 

A Night to Forget
Joe Frazier was what we all thought we were trying to get away from. He was conservative, humble, deferential. In the black community at the time, everyone's parents liked Joe. But to us young, radical, paradigm challenging youth - Ali was mythic. We were embarrassed by Joe Frazier. We were inspire and proud of Muhammed Ali. And his victory over "the Man's Champion" was to be a very delicious - and rare - bit of cultural redemption for an entire generation. An entire world view.

Well, the rest - as they say - is history. Frazier went on to win that fight in dramatic fashion. Withstanding 14 1/2 rounds of unbelievable abuse until - through an unfathomable act of pure will - he knocked Ali down in the waning moments of the 15th and last round - and thereby won the title. And to us - Amerika had won - and the people had lost. 

More Us than We Knew 
Times have changed. And so have we. Older and wiser, as the saying goes. And the saying is right.
 
Joe Frazier died yesterday. And when I heard the news, I thought of that night so long ago - and I remembered my disappointment. And it was weird. The feeling now seemed foreign to me. 

The electricity of the age had long ago faded, and given way to the struggle we all wage. The struggle to survive, to grow, to prosper and be complete. And with each skirmish in that battle - I grew to understand - and appreciate - Joe Frazier more and more.

Here was a simple man - struggling against every barrier America could erect - for maybe the only goal worth struggling for; dignity. And as much as anyone in the history of sports - he had won that struggle. 

I didn't realize it then - but I do now; that his attainment of dignity was the real victor that night. And because of it - we all gained a little ground in our own pursuit of the same. 

Thanks Joe.

Unlike southern California, San Francisco is not really known for its beaches. Yet, it is a city surrounded on three sides by the ocean - so it really shouldn't come as a surprise that San Francisco has several great sandy spots.

A few weeks ago this blog saw a story about Baker Beach, adjacent to the ocean side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Definitely one of America's great beaches. And just a little further along the coast is another great spot - and virtually unknown, even to many San Franciscans. It's called China Beach.

No Vacancy - for some
In the early gold-rush days of the City, Chinese immigrant workers chose this spot to set-up camps where they lived while working in the new San Francisco. This was necessary because Chinese immigrants were only welcome to work in the City's hotels and homes - but not to stay in them. So the Chinese workers set-up tent cities in the then uninhabited areas of San Francisco.

In a way - this discrimination was a blessing in-disguise. Yes, it was a long walk to work in the Nob Hill and Telegraph Hill areas of the City - but when they got back to their encampment, they certainly had one of the best views imaginable.

So wonderfully beautiful is this section of the City that it is now home to some of the nicest and most expensive homes in the United States. The area around China Beach is called Sea Cliff - and if you want to live there, houses start at around two-million dollars.

But visiting the beach is free - and special. This is the perfect place to come for a quiet, thoughtful walk on the beach. Or to build a cozy fire to snuggle next to as you watch the sun set. Or just to sit and stare out at the ocean and watch ships go by as they come in and out of the bay.

And more often than not - you'll be completely alone. It's one of the best kept secrets in the City - so only those in the know make it out here.


If you're headed this way and looking for one of those hidden unwinding spots - this is definitely one the best. 
Don't miss it.

The Industrial Revolution has made the world a place the Ancients would have a hard time recognizing as the same planet they walked thousands of years ago. From electrical devices, to modern transportation, to global climate change - industry has changed everything. 

The quantity, quality, and speed of change in the post-industrial world is mind boggling. By any indices you wish to cite, life has changed more in the last 250 years than in the previous 5000. It's astounding.

And this week the World's population will reach 7 billion. SEVEN BILLION. As in People.

To throw that mind-numbing figure into context - consider these interesting facts:

• in the year 1700 the Earth's population was 600 million
• in 1800 it was 1 billion
• in 1930 it reached 2 billion
• in 1999 - 6 billion

In other words - it took over six thousand years to reach 1 billion. But it has taken only 12 years to go from 6 billion to 7 billion. And that trend will continue.

 Experts calculate the Earth's population will reach 10 billion by 2083; almost 20 years before the turn of the next century.

To give you an idea of how many a billion is - consider that 1 billion seconds ago it was 1789. And we've added that many people in just 12 years.

The question comes to mind - how many people can the world support? It's a complex discussion - but one thing is clear. But no matter how many the Earth can support, a lot of thought and planning will have to go into making sure so many people can live in a way that is acceptable. 

With 1 billion people currently living without access to clean water - how do we insure that the next billion won't just be added to that group? To say nothing of eliminating this problem altogether. And that's just one factor of many.

Two-thirds of the water used on Earth today goes toward agriculture. And the lion's share of that (statistics vary) is targeted at meat production in one way or another. Cattle eat grain - and it takes 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. And that takes a lot of water.

So one thing is definitely clear; the 10 billion people of 2083 will not be able to eat the way most Americans eat today. There just isn't enough water to produce that much meat. And so - the world's diet will have to change. Whether we want it to or not.

Seven billion is a milestone worthy of noting; both for it's absolute quantity and the speed at which we reached it. And frankly, it's a little unsettling. 

It seems obvious that unless human societies begin to drastically and quickly change how we approach human organization on Earth - the tipping point at which unforeseen affects start to overwhelm the impact of conscious interventions will be reached - and soon.
 
And that's a little scary.

Nothing is simple about history. Every angle of perspective is at once true - and hopelessly incomplete. Every discovered detail a window - in a labyrinth. 

Yet, is-spite of this, plateaus of understanding exist. Could've been and should've been ultimately give way to is. 

But oft times the is of now does more to mask the impact of was than anything else. The Sacred Valley of the Inca is filled with what was. 

And, in many ways, little of what now is seems organically connected to it; and often even less of it seems to have changed at all. Both perspectives are true; neither is complete.

Time and being
The conquest of the Inca by the treasure hunting Spaniards was a tragedy to some - an essential bridge to others. The ancient civilizations of every continent were always doomed to be absorbed into each other. 

Like the seasons themselves, a pattern of contact and assimilation has been followed for as long as time has existed. It could never be otherwise. The only constant - is change.

Yet, as nature herself is now demonstrating, this process, these seasons, are far from abstract; anything but neutral. There is a path to history, a direction. There are results. There is a destination.

Arrival at ourselves
The Sacred Valley is haunted with ancient paths and themes. If for no other reason, the physical juxtaposition of ancient and contemporary serve to constantly throw our now into the contrasting shadow of was. 

And that constant tension permeates the atmosphere; is present in every interaction, both physical and cerebral. More so than most places. And it is special because of that.

So we walk the paths; ruminate about the themes. Our journeys become struggles within ourselves - to see ourselves - to know ourselves. We look for what we think we have yet to learn - and we more often than not see truths we feel - but somehow still don't know.

So we keep looking.

Joschka Fischer is one of those type of public figures whose personal narrative seems stranger than fiction. How does someone go from a violent, far-left militant, to eventually becoming the Foreign Minister of Germany? It's just not the normal path to success in the industrialized world.  And - just not normal - is a perfect way to view both the man - and his recent introduction, via film, to San Francisco.

The Berlin & Beyond Film Festival is currently running at what is perhaps America's most un-normal movie venue - The Castro Theater. Friday saw the screening of director Pepe Danquart's "Joschka & Mr. Fischer" - and seldom have a film subject and screening location been more alike. Both completely unique; both impossible to forget.

The film follows the evolution of one Joseph Martin Fischer, an ethnic German originally from Hungary, who has always been known by the Hungarian nickname Joschka. Born in 1948, to follow his story is, in many respects, to follow the story of post-war Germany. 

Starting-out as the politically conservative son of a small-town butcher, Joschka goes from being a Marxist leftist, to working class drop-out, to depressed taxi driver - before reinventing himself as a Green Party activist and step by step evolving into the person who becomes an icon of the modern German state.


And what's both fascinating and encouraging is watching how he remains true to himself throughout. His journey is not a study in being corrupted, but rather one of  true, meaningful growth; the path to maturity and wisdom. Both for him, and for the society that spawned him.

His arrival in the mainstream of modern politics and society says as much about the development of post-war Germany as it does about him. Both evolved toward each other - and in doing so, both grew-up.

The Normalcy of Unique
So it was somewhat ironic to see his story first presented to American audiences in The Castro Theater. After all, their stories are so similar in some ways. 

Both emerged from the margins of social respectability and normalcy to become uniquely (and somewhat quirkily) central to a new social milieu. And in the process, a newness emerged from the melding that reflects a symbiosis - despite its unlikely genesis. 

To walk into the Castro Theater is to both step back in time and simultaneously arrive at the very cutting-edge of social modernity. 

The theater is like a living time-capsule. From the art-deco design of the building itself, to the opulently decorated interior and large viewing screen, the Castro just oozes tradition. 


Yet so truly does it hold to tradition that it winds-up being completely unique for it. Here is the only theater left (anywhere??) with a real organ that rises on an elevated platform from beneath the stage to treat the waiting audience to 20 minutes of live music before each film. If you want to know what a movie going experience was like in earliest days of film, come to the Castro.


And no ordinary films ever play in this most extraordinary venue. The Castro survives by showing vintage, cult, and contemporary avant-garde film festival material.

Rebels with a Cause
So it all seemed so fitting - the match of Joschka with the Castro. Two rebels who had triumphed over their outcast status. And through their process' of evolution, both demonstrated how our modern societies and cultures have changed too. By absorbing these outcasts through their maturity and growth, society has demonstrated its own.

It seemed as though both were messengers that night; the theater and the man.  Beacons signaling that the best of life is tied to the fullness of life. That there is no us or them; no normal nor abnormal. There is only us. And that perspective is everything. The broader it is - the more real it is. And what's real, works.

Joschka found this out. And so did San Francisco. 

600 Years of Solitude
The rediscovery of the Inca city of Machu Picchu is officially recognized as taking place in 1911 when Hiram Bingham stumbled on the site while looking for the lost city of Vilcabamba. Of such good fortune are many careers made.

Other Western explorers had also been to the site - but their goal had been to plunder - not to study. Bingham, on the other hand, returned to the site in 1912 at the behest of Yale University and the National Geographic Society for the express purpose of documenting the find and conducting research. He is thus credited with the discovery - exactly 100 years ago.

That Machu Picchu was still there to find is somewhat of a miracle. The city had been essentially abandoned a few decades before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors - and as a result - was never discovered by them. 

If they had discovered it, there would probably be a big Catholic cathedral there now instead of the essentially intact remnants of an Incan civilization. At the very least, it would've been completely destroyed for being pagan - as the Spanish had done to every other indigenous site they discovered anywhere in the Americas. Of such good fortune are miracles born.

The End - and Beginning of Plunder
This discovery not only revealed Machu Picchu to the world - but it also prevented treasure hunters from continuing to steal items from the site. Or so it seemed. 

But during the years immediately following Bingham's discovery, thousands of priceless artifacts were removed by the explorer himself, and shipped to Yale University in the United States; ostensibly on loan (sanctioned by the government of Peru) for purposes of research.

The only thing is, the loaned items were never returned, despite repeated demands for such by the government of Peru. At first Yale took the position that Peru - as a third-world nation - could not be trusted with the priceless artifacts; and so they simply refused to honor their earlier pledge to return them. And as far as Yale was concerned - that was the end of the discussion; forever.

Ultimately, The National Geographic Society - who had also been part of the original agreement - declared their support for Peru's ownership of the artifacts and began to pressure Yale to relent and return their treasure. Meanwhile, the Peruvian government began legal action in US courts to force the return.

In the face of this double effort - Yale simply stopped talking. As far as they were concerned, the discussion was over.

Feliz Cumpleaños
But late last year former Peruvian President Alan Garcia appealed directly to President Barack Obama to intervene on Peru's behalf. And with Obama, Garcia was preaching to the choir. 

Within two weeks of that appeal Obama summoned Yale representatives to the White House - and shortly thereafter Yale announced that they would indeed - at long last - return all of the more than 40,000 "borrowed" artifacts to Peru.

And in-fact, that process is now underway. The first shipment - containing all of the museum quality pieces - arrived in Peru earlier this year to great fanfare. Eventually, these pieces will be displayed in the Inca Museum at the Casa Concha in Cusco.
Happy birthday Machu Picchu!

Below are some photos I recently took at Machu Picchu.

For the last several months United fliers have started to notice bigger and bigger changes taking place in the Friendly Skies. United and Continental have merged, and the impact is really starting to be noticeable. 

So for those of you who fly United, I have put together a quick overview on the biggest changes that are most likely to have a direct impact on you.

The merger is still not fully completed - but enough changes have either already been made - or been announced - to enable us to draw some early impressions.

But I caution you to remember that they are still two, completely separate entities. I mention this because of stumbling on a woman the other day looking for UA flight X when her boarding pass clearly said CO.  Flier beware! Anyway - here we go. 

Change is the Only Constant
These are the big ones so far; others are sure to come. The bottom line is that being a Premier/Silver 25K-50K flier isn't going to get you much any longer. And anyone between 50K-100K will be getting noticeably less perks than pre-merger. 

However - the expanded route structure and number of available seats are definitely a plus. And all Elite level fliers wanting to redeem miles will be guaranteed a Standard Award seat on any flight with space (even if it's the last available revenue seat) - which is nice when trying to book award travel. Note that I said Standard Award - not Saver Award - but still pretty cool.

So I'm giving United an A- so far. The A is for maintaining Economy Plus seating. The minus is for stripping too many perks from the Premier Level, and dis-ing the 50K-100K level on matching miles. 

It's not a perfect picture - but still pretty good. 
Happy flying!